random thoughts about obscure or interesting musical instruments and the people who make them and play them

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

The Slaperoo by Andy Graham

I attended MakerFaire 2011 in San Mateo, CA this year. It's becoming an annual event for me and my son to check out all of the cool things that folks are 'hacking' in their garages. This year I ran into Andy Graham demo'ing his latest creation The Slaperoo.

"Inspired by a long shipping crate with a highly tensioned steel strap, the SLAPEROO™ uses the same type of steel strapping (aka, the Slapper) to produce it's unique percussive tones.

"The rigid tubular body of the SLAPEROO™ is made of anodized 6061 alloy aluminum, which provides the strength necessary to handle the hundreds of pounds of tension required for the the Slapper to get its unique sound.

"The Slapper floats just above the length of the body, allowing it to be 'fretted' like a stand-up bass. However, rather than strumming, the Slapper is struck against the body with one or two hands. It can even be bowed like a violin.

"At the heart of the SLAPEROO™ lies a custom-designed transducer (pickup) that converts the vibrations of the Slapper into an audio signal. The 1/4-inch instrument plug in the back allows it to be used with any instrument amplifier.

Cost: $599 (list)

I have confirm that first of all, Andy Graham is a first rate musician. I saw him perform at MakerFaire 2010, and what caught my attention last year was his unique "multi-didj" stand which enabled him to play the didj while simultaneously banging out the beats on a full drum kit. That's Talent! Little did I know until this year, that Andy is also a talented inventor and entrepreneur. The Slaperoo is just one of several musical inventions that Andy has created over the years (including the DijBass and DijBow). But The Slaperoo has a unique sound. Admittedly, I was also fascinated by the sound of banging on the metal bands around a shipping container many years ago, (used to drive my lab mates crazy when a new crate arrived), but I didn't have Andy's inventor spirit then.